The Daily Disney

The latest buzz on Toy Story Land is its opening date. The new area created for Disney’s Hollywood Studios will officially be open as of June 30. That date was announced on Disney-owned ABC during its “Good Morning America” broadcast Friday morning. Toy Story Land, announced in August 2015, will...

Pandora - The World of Avatar

If we’ve learned anything from nightclubbing, it’s that dim lighting makes everything look … more intriguing. That applies as well to our newest major attractions, Universal’s Volcano Bay water park and Pandora – the World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. Of course, they’re no slouches in...

Ten years ago this month, I started writing about Central Florida’s theme parks and attractions on a full-time basis. That’s a lot of sunscreen, re-hydrating and double-wide strollers, my friends. In a decade, there have been good days, tragic events, rampant rumors and unexpected developments....

Demand for blue beings, bioluminescence and new theme-park rides was high Saturday as Pandora — The World of Avatar opened to the public for the first time at Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park. An early-morning surge of visitors, some arriving in the wee hours, created a stand-by sea that formed...

Disney Events

The holiday season at Walt Disney World will feature new entertainment options at Epcot and new decor and projections at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and other changes. Among them: • At Epcot, there’s a new name: The Epcot International Festival of Holidays, replacing the old Holidays Around the...

Disney After Hours will return to Magic Kingdom theme park for a few select dates in 2018. A limited number of tickets are sold for the Walt Disney World event, which, by design, makes for short-to-nonexistent waits for popular attractions at the park. Disney says more than 25 of its rides and...

Yes, yes, I’m one of those people who just couldn’t embrace Halloween celebrations in August. So I waited until September to attend Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. But in Central Florida, September is really August: Part 2, and, in my opinion, too warm to be going around...

Disney Hotels and Resorts

Disney offered up a look at some of the spaces coming to the revamped port of entry coming to Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World. The new images were revealed along with some details on the Disney Parks Blog today. The resort has been undergoing construction updates since earlier this...

Walt Disney World hotel guests now can skip one more line. Visitors are able to go directly to their rooms to unpack and unwind — without the traditional stop at the front desk to check in. For room keys, they’ll use the customized MagicBands shipped to their homes after completing a virtual check-in,...

The Orlando area might soon have its second JW Marriott hotel, as developers have filed a plan for a new JW on 10.6 acres near Wyndham’s Bonnet Creek Resort and southeast of Disney World’s Epcot. The property is owned by DCS Investments of West Palm Beach, also known locally as the owner and developer...

Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise Line is taking out the Carioca’s restaurant on board Disney Magic and replacing it with Rapunzel’s Royal Table as part of changes coming in early 2018. Carioca’s, named after parrot Jose Carioca, Donald Duck’s buddy in the 1944 animated short “The Three Caballeros,” had replaced Parrot...

Disney Cruise Line welcomed its third new stage show in two years to its fleet, as “Beauty and the Beast” began its run on Disney Dream. The new 70-minute show is the centerpiece entertainment on the ship sailing out of Port Canaveral on three- and four-night Bahamas cruises. The show pulls from...

Disney Cruise Line announced at the D23 Expo that its fleet would grow to seven ships by 2023. While the line had previously announced two new ships were coming, the news is a third is now on order with Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany. Also of note, the new order will move up the timetable...

More theme parks

Less than a week after Walt Disney World Resort raised prices, the other big theme-park player in town is following suit. Universal Orlando Resort listed one-day, single-park admission as $115 on its website Friday, up from the $110 it listed this time last year. Park-to-park one-day tickets start...

As “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” turns 50, Rollins College is celebrating beloved alum Fred Rogers with a self-guided walking tour that showcases campus memorabilia. “The walking tour is our way of honoring the time that Fred Rogers spent on our campus as a student and the many ways he continues...

The curators at Orlando Museum of Art knew that Florida’s serious art collectors had their share of treasures. But they wanted to know more. The result? “State of Excellence,” an exhibit of more than 130 works from 23 private collections. On view through April 29, the exhibition features art from...

More Disney News

We didn't know we'd been yearning for it until it arrived, but now that it's here it’s unmistakable that the wait for a film like "Black Panther" has been way longer than it should have been. On one level this is the next-in-line Marvel Universe story of the ruler of the mythical African kingdom...

Mary and Martin Downey, of Kissimmee, were watching “Wheel of Fortune” with their young sons when she decided to apply to be a contestant. “I’ve always wanted to be on the show. I went online and filled out the form,” said Mary, 35. She is founder and executive director of Community Hope Center,...

At the end of the day, when the tourists are gone, Disney performers head out to their favorite spot to keep on singing after their shifts are over. Every Thursday, they perform at open-mic night at Pilars, a Winter Garden martini bar that’s developed a loyal following the past five years. Joey...

Major League Baseball’s house isn’t made of glass. The offseason showed us that. Stones were thrown between the league office and players union — and continue to be — over issues such as the slog in free-agent signings, leading some to suggest collusion. The words boycott and spring training were...

Steve Harvey is bringing his daytime talk show, “Steve,” to Epcot at Walt Disney World. The shows will tape March 9-11. If you’d like to be part of the studio audience, go to getstevetix.com. The five episodes of the nationally syndicated show will air March 19-23. WFTV-Channel 9 airs “Stave” at...

Every dozen parsecs or so, the "Star Wars" universe seems to expand. Just one day after the world glimpsed "Game of Thrones" star Emilia Clarke in the first full trailer for this summer's "Solo: A Star Wars Story," Disney announced Tuesday that "Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B....

When the hotly anticipated “Black Panther” opens in theaters nationwide Feb. 16, comic book collector Lori Hill said she and three of her best girlfriends will be ready to celebrate the film as if it were a royal affair. Attending the earliest Friday morning screening possible, Hill and friends...

That name change for Disney’s Hollywood Studios? Not so fast, my friends. The name of Walt Disney World’s most in-flux theme park will remain the same for the “foreseeable future,” according to a Wednesday post on the official Disney Parks Blog. At the tail-end of a post about the Alien Swirling...

Sounds silly but it’s true: The third longest-running show in Broadway history is based on a children’s cartoon. Disney’s “The Lion King” debuted in November 1997 and has been belting out the “Circle of Life” ever since. With more than 8,000 performances under its belt, or mane, it has run longer...

"Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are going to write and produce a new series of "Star Wars" films, Disney announced on Tuesday. The new series will be separate from the main episodic Skywalker saga that started with "Star Wars: A New Hope" and is slated to wrap up with 2019's...

Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World has again nabbed the top spot in the rankings for hotels in the area, according to the annual calculations made by U.S. News & World Report. It’s the fourth consecutive year that Four Seasons has been No. 1 on the regional list. Rounding out the...

Anthony Fario heard about Nick Foles’ travel plans at 4:30 a.m. Monday. Because Fario can’t make it to the Eagles’ Super Bowl parade on Thursday, he told his wife where he needed to go. “I’m going to Disney World!” he said. Ten hours later, Fario was in his green “Foles” jersey waiting for the...

Concerns began to spin like a maneuvering Millennium Falcon last summer when the directors of the Han Solo spinoff film ("Lego Movie" masterminds Phil Lord and Chris Miller) were unceremoniously dumped well into shooting, and old pro Ron Howard was brought aboard to close those "creative differences"...

One night after the biggest victory of his life, Nick Foles will celebrate with a parade at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. The parade down Main Street, USA is expected to start at about 2:40 p.m. Monday. Foles was selected the Super Bowl LII MVP after completing 28 of 43 passes for 373 yards, three...

Walt Disney World has announced special summer programming that will be introduced in all four of its theme parks in the coming months. Visitors can expect more “Incredibles” and some sounds from “Guardians of the Galaxy.” They’ll also be able to experience the grand opening of Toy Story Land at...

Don’t be concerned if a Disney cast member at Animal Kingdom’s Pandora — The World of Avatar says “kaltxi” to you. It’s “hello,” Na’vi style. The language, spoken by the blue-skinned beings in the “Avatar” film, made its Central Florida debut last year. Workers stationed at Pandora were given lessons...

Emily Blunt, the actress playing the title character in “Mary Poppins Returns,” has joined the cast of a film based on the Jungle Cruise ride found at Magic Kingdom and other Disney parks worldwide, Variety has reported. Production on the “Jungle Cruise” film is slated to begin in May, Variety...

Advance ticket sales to Marvel's "Black Panther" are outpacing all superhero movies on Fandango. The online ticket service said Wednesday that "Black Panther" is currently outselling its previous record-holder for presale, 2016's "Batman v Superman." Following gushing early reaction from Monday...

Walt Disney World is expanding its program that enables mobile pre-ordering for meals at select restaurants at its four theme parks and at Disney Springs. Folks using one of the three Disney Dining Plan options can now use the service, Disney announced Wednesday. The system, introduced last year,...

Walt Disney World has set a date for another Star Wars: Galactic Nights, the periodic after-hours, extra-ticket event at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It’s in May, but not on May the Fourth, friends of the Jedi. The next Galactic Nights will be held May 27 from 7 p.m. to midnight, according to the...

Dream weddings come in all shapes and sizes. And a Walt Disney World event aims to show couples that the resort can turn many fantasies into reality, even if a Chinese temple, a royal backdrop or a Dole Whip-inspired cake are required. Disney’s next Bridal Showcase, held at the Contemporary Resort...

Fans of the smallest Marvel hero will be glad to finally get a look at this summer’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp.” The sequel to the surprise 2015 hit starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas comes to theaters July 6 and Marvel Entertainment has released a full-length trailer for the...

In December, I took a trip to Walt Disney World. I'm a bona fide Disney nerd and semi-frequent park guest. (I aim to go at least once a year.) I had an amazing trip during the holiday season. I attended Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, I got to experience the new Pandora land at Animal Kingdom,...